USA > Vermont > Bennington County > History of Bennington County, Vt. : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 48
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
"From the first settlement and organization of the towns in the New Hampshire Grants, each had by its charter the right of self- government in March meeting, by the election of town officers and ordering town affairs. This power was vested in . the inhabitants ' by the New Hampshire charters. When in June, 1770 the New York court repudiated tliese charters, and the towns west of the Green Mountains had resolved " to support their rights and property under the New Hampshire Grants against their usurpation and unjust claims of the governor and council by force, as law and justice were denied them,' these towns appointed town committees of safety 'whose business it was to attend to their defense and security against the New York claimants.' These committees afterwards met from time to time as occasion seemed to demand, in general convention to consult upon and adopt measures for their common protection," and when met together in each county constituted the county com- mittee of safety. The first meeting of these committees convened at Dorset, July 26, 1775, and is reported in " Vermont Historical Society Collections," vol. 1, as follows: " At a meeting of the committees of the several townships on the New Hampshire Grants west of the range of the Green Mountains, con- vened at the house of Mr. Cephas Kent innholder in the township of Dorset, July 26, 1775, voted as follows, viz : Ist. Chose Mr Nathan Clarke chairman. 2d. Chose John Fassett clerk. 3d. The motion being made and seconded whether the convention shall prosecute (proceed) in choosing field and other officers according to the Provincial Congress and General Schuyler's directions, passed in the affirmative. Then proceeded as follows: 4th. Chose Mr. Seth Warner lieutenant-colonel for the regiment of Green Mountain Boys by a majority of forty one to five. 5th. Chose Mr. Samuel Safford major for said regiment by a majority of twenty- eight to seventeen. Then proceeded and chose seven cap- tains and fourteen lieutenants by a great majority."
But it can hardly be considered essentially within the scope of this chapter to review the proceedings of the various assemblages within the town of Dor- set that had no special relation to the town's individual history. The proceed- ings of the several conventions will be found sufficiently stated in the earlier pages of this volume, and need no repetition here.
Personal History .- Of the first six settlers of Dorset we find an account of the descendants of only three families. The "Vermont Historical Magazine" gives in part these sketches in regard to them :
The Baldwins became established in Dorset by the immigration to the town of four brothers. Benjamin, Asa. Eleazer, and Elisha, with two other relatives, Silas and Thomas Baldwin. Benjamin came first into town in 1768, and es- tablished himself about a mile east of the village. Being a man of almost her-
A
414
HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
culean strength, of great business talent and enterprise, he soon surround himself with the principal necessaries and many of the comforts of life. . his farm were grown the first apples raised in town. He was a warm-heart and generous man. His house became the resort not only of the social, loved Uncle Ben's spicy stories and good cheer, but also of the poor ard needy, who were never sent "empty away." In all his purposes and desire ; looking in a benevolent direction he was earnestly seconded by his wife-th kindly tempered, patient, and loving Aunt Ruth, the mother, not only of .. dozen children of her own, but the foster-mother of every poor child in the neighborhood. He at one time was a man of the most substance of any in town. His children mostly emigrated to the West. He died in 1830, aged eighty-six years. The children of Benjamin Baldwin were as follows: Guy, Edward, Benjamin, (the latter of whom died in 1772, and was the first person buried in Maple Hill Cemetery,) Asa, Benjamin, 2d, William, Deborah, Rachel, Sarah, Ruth, Thomas K., Lorena, and Mary.
John Manly, jr. was one of the first that settled in town, and was soon fol- lowed by his father, Deacon John Manly, whose wife was a half-sister of Ben- edict Arnold. Deacon Manly settled at Dorset village on the place still owned . by his descendants. He died in 1803, aged 90 years. John Manly, jr. settled on the farm still owned by his great grandson, John B. Manly.
Captain Abraham Underhill was among the earliest settlers of South Dor- set. At his house in 1774 was held the first town meeting. Captain Under- hill commanded the volunteer company which was raised for the defense of the country. Being a man of very humane feelings he did much to mitigate the asperities of feeling existing between different parties, and by using his influ- ence with the Council of Safety was instrumental in restoring to the families of the disaffected many a cow and horse of which they had been officially plun- dered. He represented the town at Windsor in 1788, and died in 1796, aged 66 years.
Eli Deming, one of the early settlers, located near Deming's Pond, he first lived in a log house near the present residence of James H. Waite, and in 1786 built the house now known as the M. B. Roberts place. His son, Benjamin Deming, lived and died there, and Mrs. M. B. Roberts, now in her 84th year, a daughter of Benjamin Deming, has spent her entire life at the old homestead which has been the home of six successive generations. Eli Deming, with his brother Eliakin, and Colonel William Marsh, owned nearly all the lands lying in the valley south of East Dorset through the town, and also many hundred acres in Manchester.
Colonel William Marsh came into town just previous to the Revolutionary War. He was one of the most able and active men in the early history of the town, was very prominent in the General Convention of July 24, 1776, a mem- ber of the association to defend by arms the United American States against
415
TOWN OF DORSET.
: :: British, but notwithstanding all this he went over to the enemy and fled to . anada, leaving his family in Dorset. His wife remained here, and in order to ercure her most valuable goods filled her brass kettle with her pewter ware and .ver spoons, and sunk them in a pond near her dwelling-so perfectly safe "uit she never recovered them. The pond referred to is just north of the pres- ent residence of Robison Andrus.
In the "Vermont Historical Magazine" we find notices of other early set- thers as follows:
William Ames, the progenitor of the Ames family, was born in Wethers- field, Conn., and settled in Dorset in 1780. The original farm is still occupied by his descendants.
Zachariah Curtis, the great grandfather of John Curtis of North Dorset, was born in England, immigrated to Connecticut at the age of eighteen and came to Dorset in 1769. He purchased nearly all the lands lying along the valley through which now runs the Bennington and Rutland Railroad, a tract running from East Dorset village northward some five miles in extent. He was, however, no non resident proprietor, for he lived and died on his property, raising up a family of twenty-five children, most of whom lived to maturity. His house, standing at the outlet of Dorset Pond, was once burned by the Indians.
Noah Morse came into Dorset from Massachusetts in 1778, and settled on the place recently owned by the Hon. Heman Morse. Not a descendant of the family is at present in town.
Reuben Bloomer came into town in 1774, and settled on the farm until re- cently owned by his descendants. He married Susannah Paddock, and raised a family consisting of nine sons and eight daughters. He went with the army to Hubbardton as teamster. In the summer of 1777, when nearly all the peo- ple, panic stricken at the threatened invasion of Burgoyne, had fled, he still remained on his farm. At this time a son of his, nine years old, died, and he was reduced to the hard necessity of setting out for the place of burial alone. Providentially a stranger came along and assisted the stricken father in bury- ing his dead. He himself died in 1824, aged eighty-eight years.
Deacon Cephas Kent was among the first settlers, and kept a tavern in troublous times. This house of Deacon Kent's and the conventions held there richly deserve conspicuous historic recognition. The house stood near the present dwelling of Charles B. Kent on the west road through the town. Dea- con Kent was a sternly religious man, positive in all his opinions, frequently ex- pressing himself: "Verily, I will have it so." He had six sons, three if not four of whom were in the battle of Bennington. He died in 1809, aged eighty- four years. Cephas Kent was married in 1747 to Hannah Spencer, and came to reside in Dorset in 1776. His children were Mary, John, Hannah Cephas, Moses, Daniel, Mary, 2d., Alexander, Deborah, and Martin. A majority of
.
7
416
HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
these children lived and died in Dorset, and all of them were born bet .. Deacon Kent became a resident of the town.
Titus Kellogg came into town soon after the Revolution, having sery five years during the war. Himself and two sons went to Plattsburg in the ... war with Great Britain. He was for many years the principal carpenter a: joiner in town.
Titus Sykes came into town before the Revolution, and was soon follow. . by his father and brothers, Asbut, Jacob, Sylvanus, Victory and Israel. Fior .. these have descended a large class of most respectable citizens, there bois at present many families of that name in town. Colonel Israel Newton Syke. was born in Dorset October 20, 1805 ; was the son of Israel Sykes, and nos lives on the farm on which he was born. In 1831 he married Diana Gilbert. who bore him seven children. Israel Sykes, father of Colonel Sykes, was bom in 1764 and died in 1846. His wife was Anna Sheldon, and was born Septem- ber 1. 1764, and died in 1838. Their children were Betsey, who died an infant Betsey, 2d, Aurelia, Harvey, Lucretia, Asaph and Israel. The last name: only of these is now living, and he, Colonel Israel N. Sykes, is nearly eighty- four years of age.
Jonathan Armstrong was born in Norwich, Ct. At the age of sixteen le went with the troops sent out by that colony to assist in taking the island (! Cuba; and so fatal was that disastrous expedition, that only a small number: of the one thousand Provincial troops ever survived to return. He was one (.I only four of his company permitted to see again their native land. At the Bennington battle he was a volunteer, and, assisted by another man, after the first action was fought, took seven prisoners, one of whom was the notorious Colonel Pfister. While these two soldiers were marching their seven prisoner- toward Bennington they met Colonel Warner with whom Armstrong was ac- quainted, and communicated to him the fact of the coming reinforcement under Baum, which information he had drawn from their prisoners. Warner ordered them to take said prisoners to their meeting-house. Colonel Pfister was car- ried part of the way on the back of Armstrong. The latter moved into Dorset in the autumn succeeding the battle of Bennington, and settled in that part of the town known as the " Hollow." He married Abigail Haynes. Five broth- ers of his wife were likewise in the engagement at Bennington. Mr. Arm- strong died, aged eighty-three years.
The settlement made in Dorset by the pioneer, Jonathan Armstrong, wa- more the result of accident than of design. His intention was to locate i11 Washington county, N. Y., but a person indebted to him offered lands in Dor- set in payment, and this the pioneer accepted, and then moved to the town with his family. The children were Cyrus, Nathan, Claudis, Lois, Abagail, and perhaps others whose names are lost. Of these Cyrus Armstrong was mar. ried twice ; first to Laura Booth, who bore him one son, Laurel His second
417
TOWN OF DORSET.
.de was Samantha Baldwin, and by her he had five children : Theodosia, I ura, Augustin, Henrietta, and one other.
The Williams Family .- Oliver Williams, the pioneer of this family, came nom Connecticut and settled in Dorset a number of years prior to the close of thir eighteenth century. His first wife died in 1798, after which he married Abigail Kent. The children of these two marriages were : Horatio, Jerusha, Norman, who was killed by a falling tree in 1819; Eliza, who married Na- thuniel Kingsley; William, Homer A., Caroline, and Mary. William Williams nurried Julia Sheldon, and had four children : Edward, George H., Charles N., and Mary. George H. and Charles N. Williams, two of these sons, comprise the firm of William Williams' Sons, manufacturers of harnesses and saddlery ut Dorset, in which business' they succeeded to that formerly carried on by their father.
Asa Baldwin, a brother of Benjamin Baldwin, settled on a farm adjoining. Ile was a strict churchman, and embraced the royal cause in the Revolution, and being an outspoken man was soon arrested and committed to Bennington jail by order of the Council of Safety. His wife, taking one child in her arms, and another behind her on horseback, with a few suchi articles as she could carry, abandoned her home in pursuit of her husband. After a ride of thirty tiles she was reunited to him, only, however, to be soon torn from his em- brace and subjected to the dire necessity of journeying alone from Bennington to the residence of her parents somewhere in Dutchess county, N. Y. The strong man, who had unflinchingly met the contumely and reproach which was leaped upon him in consequence of his attachment to the royal cause, melted and wept like a child to see his defenseless wife and babes thus depart. His farm, now abandoned, was taken possession of by the family of General Strong, recently driven from their home in Addison. December 12, 1777, the Coun - cil of Safety discharged Asa Baldwin and others "from whatever they may have said or acted relative to the disputes between Great Britain and this coun- try." He was duly restored to his family and his property.
Prince Paddock came into town about 1769, and settled in Dorset Hollow. Three brothers, John, Isaac, and Asa came from Mansfield, Ct. in 1780, set- tled, and spent the remainder of their lives in this town. Isaac served in the French and Indian war, was several times " on duty," as he used to call it, in the War of the Revolution, participating as a commissioned officer in the battle of Bunker Hill. Asa Farwell also served with the army in Rhode Island at White Plains, while the British held possession of New York.
The Holley Family .- Justus Holley, the pioneer of this family, was born in Connecticut February 5, 1765. Elizabeth: Field, his wife, was born in the same State October 29, 1773. Their children were Laura, Almeda, Electa, Harvey, Hiram, Marthia, Justus, Spafford F., George B., Harriet, and Rhoda. Justus Holley, the pioneer died April 29, 1849, and his wife in November, 1858. Jus- 53
418
HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
tus Holley enrolled himself as fifer in Captain Robinson's company at I'. . nington ; when ready to go into battle young Holley asked his captain 1. 1 gun, thinking it a more effective instrument to serve his country with the. fife. But Captain Robinson preferred the powerful effect of the young ina :. fife.
Colonel Stephen Martindale settled in Dorset in 1783; came fromi Stor bridge, Mass .; was a volunteer at the Bennington battle at the age of sixty weighing at that time just sixty-six pounds. He joined Colonel Warner's re; ment. The colonel on seeing such a stripling in the ranks ordered hin " take care of some horses, greatly to the mortification of Martindale. Thot: : thus prevented from participating in the first action he was gratified with. .. chance of engaging in the second. After the enemy had fled a fellow soldi: called to him for liclp to secure several prisoners, some eight in number, of whom two were inclined to be obstinate. All, however, were finally success- fully "surrounded " and secured by one or two sturdy and gallant yeomen During the War of 1812 he was colonel of the regiment composed of drafted men and volunteers, and marched them to the lines for the defense of the State. Having received orders not to cross the lines he did not participate in the ac- tion at Plattsburg. In person he was very tall and spare, courteous and gen- tlemanly in address, and very energetic and active in all his movements. lle several times represented the town in the Legislature, and died in 1825, aged eighty-five years.
Captain John Shumway came to Dorset soon after the close of the Revolu- tion from Mansfield, Ct. He enlisted in the army in his native town in 1775. and served during the war. He was town clerk and justice of the peace for many years, representative of the town and judge of Probate. He drew a cap- tain's pension for several years before his death, and his sword is still in the possession of one of his descendants. He died in 1825, aged ninety-three year -.
Horace G. Harwood, the prosperous and progressive farmer and lumberman of Dorset, is a descendant from the family of Joseph Harwood, a pioneer of Ku- pert and Bennington. The children of Joseph were Joseph, Harriet, Abagail, Zachariah, Franklin, Oliver, Ruby, and Seymour. Oliver married Ruhamal: Farrar and had five children, only two of whom, Vesta A. and Horace G., arc now living.
John Cochran was a pioneer of Londonderry, " over the mountain," and came to Dorset in 1820, bringing his family, in which there were six children. Two more children were born in Dorset. Mr. Cochran located on the site now occupied by Ira Cochran. John's children were Hannah, Ira, John R., Mary. Betsey, Luther (better known as Dr. Cochran, a physician of much ability, now deceased), Alvira, Almira. Ira Cochran was born in 1810, and for many years was one of the most prominent men of East Dorset. He built the first hotel in the village in 1852, and about the same time he built a steam marble xaw- mill.
419
TOWN OF DORSET.
Jonathan Crandall was a pioneer settler in Rhode Island, and was in the Revolutionary service. He afterwards became a resident of Dorset and died there. His children were Russell, Worthy, Jonathan, Lyman, Jefferson, and Cynthia. Of these Russell only is now living. Lyman Crandall married Sarah Like, of Dorset, and had eleven children. William, his eldest son, served in the Mexican War, and died of yellow fever while on his way home. Albert und Willett, also sons of Lynian, served during the War of the Rebellion in Company H of the First Cavalry.
In that part of the town of Dorset that is known as the " Hollow " are a number of fine farms, and among them none is better than that owned and oc- cupied by Moses Sheldon. This young and energetic farmer was the second child of Calvin and Eunice Sheldon. The farm comprises three hundred acres and is as well cultivated and stocked as any in the township. In 1884 Moses Sheldon was elected town representative; also he was, during the same year, appointed deputy sheriff. In 1882-3 he was town constable.
James Lewis Robinson was born in Rutland county in the year 1839, and was the sixth of eight children born to Willmarth and Phebe Robinson. The family moved to Dorset during the youth of James, and located where Ezra Nichols now lives. In May, 1861 James enlisted in Company A, Second Ver- mont Infantry, for the three months' service, but re-enlisted for three years. He was in the prominent battles at First Bull Run, Frederick City, Wilderness, Antietam, Gettysburg, and other places. He was mustered out in 1864.
Thomas M. Collins, the local marble dealer and monument builder of Dor- set village, was born in Rutland county in 1827, and came to Dorset when a young man. He learned the business of marble working with Sykes & Under- hill, and engaged for himself in 1865. In 1853 he married Sarah Hawks, by whom he had two children.
About the year 1847 or 1848 Welcome Allen came to North Dorset and bought the old iron foundry property and conducted the business thereafter until about 1869, when Florez Allen, his son, became interested in it. In 1877 Welcome Allen moved to Factory Point, where he died in 1884. Florez Al- len continued the foundry business as long as it was profitable and then en- gaged in other pursuits. In 1872 he was chosen station agent at North Dorset.
The Farwell Family. John Farwell and his wife Esther and two children, Rhoda and John, came to Dorset in 1768 from Mansfield, Conn., and located on lands near the Rupert town line. Their home was in a log cabin that three brothers, John, Isaac and Asa Farwell had built the year before. John Far- well lived on the farm now occupied by Harwood. John's children were Rho- da, John, Jeduthan, Eliphalet, Dolly, Olive, Isaac, Esther, and Nabby.
George Washington Farwell, a generous and public-spirited citizen of Dor- set, is a son of Eliphalet Farwell, by the marriage of the latter with Clarinda Kent. The other children of this union were Electa, Philo and Eliphalet, jr.
.
.
4.20
HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
George W. Farwell married Maria Noble and had these children : John. ; gar, J., (the latter of which died at Raleigh, N. C., in 1876) Agnes, and 31 tha C. None of these children are now living.
The Curtis Family. A few of the older residents of Dorset and Manche ter will remember the familiar form of Daniel Curtis, or, as he was better kno. Uncle Daniel, the once famous landlord of the hotel at North Dorset. U !! Daniel succeeded to the business of his father, Elias Curtis, upon the death . the latter. Elias was a pioneer of Manchester, and lived in "Skinner Hollos in that town prior to his moving to North Dorset in 1794. He had a number. ous family of children, and of these Daniel was the youngest. Daniel marrie Betsey Bowen, and was the father of three children, only two of whom, Len and John, grew to maturity. John also succeeded his father in the hotel ... North Dorset; but when the days of stage travel ended the business declinee. so that at present the old "tavern " receives only an occasional visitor.
General John Strong, although a resident of this town only a few years, deserves mention here, on account of his prominence in public affairs durin,: that time. His family were driven from their home in Addison by the Indian .. in 1777, and found refuge in Dorset. It may not be inappropriate to give thir following sketch from the "Vermont Historical Magazine:" "The- morning previous to the taking of Crown Point by Burgoyne, Mrs. Strong was sitting at the breakfast table. Her two oldest sons, Asa and Samuel, had started at daylight to hunt for young cattle that had strayed in the woods. Her husband had gone to Rutland to procure supplies of beef for the American forces at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, when a daughter of Kellogg (afterwards Mrs. Markham), came rushing in with, 'The Indians are coming, and we are all fly - ing. There are bateaux at the Point to take us off, and you must hurry!' and back she ran to help her own folks, her father then being a prisioner in Que- bec. Mrs. Strong was in feeble health, totally unable to encounter hardship or fatigue; her husband away, her two oldest sons in the woods, and no one to warn or seek them. There was no way but to try and save the children that were with her. She took her youngest, a babe of six months, (Cyrus) and putting him in a sack, with his head and shoulders out, fastened him on the back of the eldest daughter, and making up a bundle for each of the other chil- dren of the most necessary clothing, started them for the Point, charging them not to loiter or wait for her, and she would overtake them. After putting out the fire she closed the house, leaving the breakfast table standing as it was when they first heard the news. She traveled on as fast as she was able until she came to the north bank of Hospital Creek. Here, entirely exhausted, she s.it down, when Spaulding of Panton, who had waited to see all off, and also the approach of the foe, came riding at full gallop up the road, and seeing her sit- ting where she was, said, 'Are you crazy? The Indians are in sight, the lake is covered, and the woods are full of them!' She told him she could go no farther.
ยท
421
TOWN OF DORSET.
He dismounted, and placing her on the pillion, remounted, and putting his Loise to his speed, arrived just as the last bateaux containing her children was was putting off, it having remained as long as they dared on her account. She was put on board, Spaulding going on with his horse. That night they arrived it Whitehall Here the settlers scattered in many directions, some returning to Connecticut, others going east. Zadock Everest and family, with other neighbors, went east, and she went with them. Asa and Samuel, as they re- turned towards night, saw, by the columns of smoke coming up from every house, that the Indians must have been there. They hid themselves until dark, and then cautiously approaching, found their house a blazing ruin. Believing that the family had escaped, they retraced their steps, and made the best of their way east towards Otter Creek. At daylight they found themselves near Snake Mountain. Fortunately, when they left home the morning previous, they took a gun and ammunition. They shot a partridge and roasted it, sav- ing a par for their dinner, and pushed on, and in about a week found their mother and the rest of the children. They then hired a log-house, the older boys working out, and each doing what they could for their support. Strong, hearing that Burgoyne had taken Crown Point, left his cattle at Brandon, and hastened for his home. On coming within sight of the forts he secreted him- self until night. He then moved on cautiously for fear of the Indians. On reaching the center of a narrow ridge of land, just south of Foard's Creek, with a marsh on either side, covered with a dense growth of alders and willow, a yell, as demoniac as though the gates of the infernal regions had opened upon him, burst forth, and instantly he was surrounded by more than two hundred savages, whooping and swinging their tomahawks over his head. Instant death seemed inevitable. A Tory was in command. Having heard that he was ex- pected in with cattle, he had got the assistance of this band of Indians, to in- tercept him. After a few moments he partially stilled the Indians, and address. ing Strong, asked, 'Where are your cattle?' Strong answered, 'Safe.' This short and disappointing answer fairly drove him mad with rage, and no doubt he would have been sacrificed him on the spot, if an old chief, who knew Strong, had not interposed. Strong then told them to take him to the fort, and what ever was proper for him to answer, he would cheerfully do. He was then bound and taken to the other side, and placed in the guard-house until morn- ing, when he was brought before the commanding officer, who was Colonel Frasier (afterwards killed at Stillwater) Strong explained who he was, the un- certain fate of his family, and his anxiety on their account. Frasier generously let him go on parole until the middle of November, when he was to be at Crown Point to go with the army and prisoners to Canada. After thanking him, and just as he was leaving. he said, 'Colonel, suppose the army never re- turn, how then?' Frasier smiling incredulously, said 'Then you are released from all obligation,' and ordering him a supply of provisions for his journey, dis-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.